1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cabinets generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to novel cabinet and sliding drawer with improved roller construction, improved manufacturability, and a drawer that remains essentially horizontal when fully extended from the cabinet.
2. Background Art
Cabinets with one or more drawers are universally used for the storage and ready accessibility of a wide variety of materials, small parts and business papers being common examples of such materials.
Some such cabinets and drawers are constructed with telescoping two- or three-piece drawer slides, with one of the slides being attached to the drawer and another of the slides being attached to the inside of the cabinet, such a drawer slide assembly being employed on either side of the drawer. In may cases, the slides have one or more wheels, or rollers, disposed between adjacent ones of the slides, the roller(s) being mounted inside the smaller of the slides. This greatly reduces the sliding friction between the slides, but the diameter of the roller is necessarily limited and, therefore, the reduction in sliding friction is limited to the capabilities of a roller having a given diameter. The width of the slides in which the rollers are mounted is somewhat narrow, leading to instability and the tendency for the roller and its corresponding slide to become disengaged.
Cabinet drawer slides are typically horizontally attached to the drawer and to the inside of the cabinet. This arrangement results in the outer end of the drawer dropping somewhat downwardly when the drawer is fully or nearly fully withdrawn from the cabinet, due to the weight of the drawer and because the slides have a certain amount of "play" therebetween as a result of wear or intentional design clearances, the latter being required so that the slides move freely.
Cabinets are typically constructed of metal, with an outer housing having side, rear, top, and bottom walls formed or permanently attached together, sometimes with front rails or a front wall extending between the side walls, separate members being welded together. Slides are usually spot welded to the inside surfaces of the side walls. If an error or defect in one of the members is discovered during manufacture or at final inspection, the entire work to that point must usually be discarded.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved drawer slide for a cabinet in which the slide has at least one roller having a diameter which can be greater than the internal height of the smaller slide and a width which can be greater than the width of the slide in which it would conventionally be mounted.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved cabinet and drawer with which the drawer is substantially horizontal when fully or nearly fully withdrawn from the cabinet.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide an improved cabinet and drawer slide construction that reduces the amount of material that must be discarded due to defects.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved cabinet in which the foregoing features are economically manufactured.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.